The Science behind Beauty Sleep
Sleep is the one essential thing that affects all other things in your life. From physical fitness to mental performance, boosting confidence to getting rid of under eye circles and from emotional well being to living a healthy and happy life, sleep is crucial. Not just the way you feel and perform, sleep even affects the way you look. There’s a reason they call it beauty sleep. A good night’s quality sleep is the closest thing to a youth fountain. You may think you can cheat a good 8 hour sleep by caking up lots of foundation or covering up sleep deprived puffy eye with loads of concealer but no makeup driven face can beat beautiful skin that shines and glows naturally.
Here are the scientific reasons how sleep makes you beautiful:
Anti Aging
The first signs of aging are fine wrinkles appearing on your skin. Wrinkles are basically caused by the loss of collagen and elasticity, which reduces skin volume. When we sleep the growth hormone comes into function and the body performs its repair and renews function. During this process skin also produces new collagen which makes skin plumper and less likely to wrinkle. According to Dermatologist Patricia Wexler, Only getting 5 hours a night can lead to twice as many fine lines as sleeping 7 would. It also leaves skin drier, which can make lines more visible.” On the other hand, not getting enough quality sleep will add more wrinkles to your face and simply age you faster. That’s because lack of sleep increases your cortisol stress levels which is a collagen killer.
Hydration & Nourishment
Nighttime is the best time for the skin’s hydration and nourishment. Skincare companies know that and it’s the reason why we have night creams. Although these creams are packed with nourishing goodies for the skin but keep in mind that they can only be able to transfer their nourishment when you snooze. According to Geoff Wright who is the director of The Hair And Beauty Partnership in London, a clinic which specializes in analyzing scalp and skin problems, ‘There are set times when our body clock dictates that various processes take place in hair and skin.” He says that, ‘From 8pm to 11pm is the time for hydration and stimulation, while 11pm to 3am is the time for nutrition and regeneration, and 3am to 5am is the time for resting.’ So if you have a late bedtime routine you are basically depriving your skin of time that it needs for hydration and nourishment.
Natural Detox
Sleep is also responsible for beautiful glowing skin. Sleep makes sure that your body receives proper nourishment and that includes skin and hair. It also helps to remove toxins from the body and can rid the brain of 60% toxins, just what you need for a lovely, glowing complexion. According to Dr. Rebecca Robbins, author of Sleep for Success, “During a good night’s rest, your body works to remove dead blood cells and dead brain cells, and clears the pathways for new synapses to take place so that new blood and brain cells can replace old ones.” Another way sleep works to give you a glowing complexion is by increasing blood flow so if you don’t get quality sleep, your skin will look dull and lifeless in the long run and you can simply forget about having those rosy cheeks and fresh eyes. When blood isn’t flowing well it can collect under eyes and become visible, since the skin there is so thin. This is why puffy eyes are among the first signs of poor sleep. Furthermore, lack of sleep can increase your stress levels which in turn can cause the capillaries to tighten up, affecting the flow of nutrients to the skin and scalp and causing the skin and hair to look dull. Apart from this, using natural supplements like those you can buy from Gold Bee can help to calm your mind from any stresses you might be experiencing, which ultimately will make you feel better. If you don’t treat your feelings of anxiety properly, your sleep pattern will suffer, which is a vicious cycle that then makes your anxiety worse.
Healthy Hair
Just like glowing skin, healthy hair is also a sign of beauty and just like skin it’s affected by sleep too. Quality sleep boosts blood flow which supports hair growth by nourishing the hair follicles. Basically hair follicles gain nutrients, vitamins, and minerals from blood flow. Poor sleep means poor blood flow and dull, weak and coarse hair as a result. Also, as discussed poor sleep promotes higher stress levels which also cause hair loss.
So prioritize your sleep if beautiful skin and hair is what you desire. No wonder celebrities and super models ever compromise on their beauty sleep. According to Christina Aguilera, “People spend money on beauty potions but a good night’s rest makes all the difference.” Similarly Catherine Zeta Jones and Beyonce credit sleep for staying young and beautiful. Where most celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry and Jennifer Lawrence sleep for the recommended 8 to 9 hours, Penelope Cruz’s beauty sleep goes up to 14 hours and Heidi Klum’s is 10 hours. So the next time you feel like delaying bedtime to another hour or so, just think about what all these celebrity beauties would do – sleep of course.
Eugene Gabriel is a passionate blogger. He has always been fascinated by sleep and how it relates to health and wellness. Read his post on Health and Fitness. You can follow him on twitter @eugenegabrielj.